Subdividing laminated material



No. 621,4"). Patented Mar. 2|, I899.

R. W. HEARD & R. A. L. SNYDER. SUBDIVIDING LAMINATED MATERIAL.

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SUBDIVIDING LAMINATED MATERIAL.

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RICHARD W. HEARD AND RICHARD A. L. SNYDER, OF SYI ISSVALE PATENT Price.

PENNSYLVANIA.

SUBDIVIDING LAMINATED MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 621,410, dated March21, 1899; Application filed September 23, 1897. Serial No. 652,689. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RICHARD W. HEARD and RICHARD A. L. SNYDER, citizensof the United States, residing at Swissvale, in the county of Alleghenyand State of Pennsyl- Vania, have invented or discovered certain new anduseful Improvements in Sub'dividin g Laminated Material, of whichimprovements the following is a specification.

The invention described herein relates to certain improvements in theseparation of laminae of mica and other similar materials, and theinvention is hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification,Figure 1 is a top plan view of our improved separating-ma chine. Fig. 2is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, theplane of section being indicated by the line III III, Fig. 1. Fig. at isa top plan view, on an enlarged scale,of a portion of the machine. Fig.5 is a sectional elevation, the plane of section being indicated by theline V V, Fig.1. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail View of the mica-holdingdevices, and Fig. 7 is a sectional detail view of a portion of theseparating-blade and the table.

In the practice of our invention we employ a blade of suitable edgecontour and a holder for the mica, one of said parts being movable so asto cause the blade to enter between adjacent laminae. In the form ofapparatus shown the blade 1 is secured upon a vertical shaft 2, mountedin suitable bearings, so that its upper end will project above thesurface of the table 3 and move the knife along parallel and in closeproximity therewith. As clearly shown in Fig. 1, this revolving knife 1is provided with a projecting horn to, approximately V-shaped incross-section. The blade is made as thin as compatible with a certainamount of rigidity, and its entering point is slightly beveled on bothsides. The amount of bevel on the under side of the point of the bladewill be entirely dependent upon the thickness of laminae which it isdesired to separate from the blockthat is to say, the thicker thelaminae to be separated the greater the bevel given to the under side ofthe blade.

The blade is held against the surface of the table adjacent to themechanism employed for holding the mica by a roller 4:, mounted on apivotally-mounted arm 5, and is held against the blade by a spring 6. Inorder to hold outer portions of the block of mica in position, we employa brush 7, which is socured to arms 8, pivotally mounted upon standardson the frame 9, and the brush is held in contact with the block of micaby means of springs 10. This brush bears, as clearly shown, upon theblock of mica near theedge at which the separating-knife enters. Therear portion of the block is held in position upon the table by means ofa presser-foot 10, secured to rods 11, passing up through the frame 9.Yielding pressure is exerted upon the presser-foot by springs 12,surrounding the supporting-rods. Any suitable means may be employed forholding the block from movement along the table with the blade-such, forexample, as that shown, and consisting of pins 13, mounted in suitableguide-sockets 14. on the frame 9. These pins are held down in operativeposition by the springs 15, having one end connected to the frame 9,while the op posite end is connected to a cross-bar 16, at tached to'theupper ends of the pins 13. In order to lift these pins, so as to permitthe passage of the separating-blade and the lamina separated from theblock, rollers 17 are loosely mounted in yokes 18, secured to the pins13. As clearly shown in Fig. 5, these rollers are mounted at an angle tothe surface of the table and are arranged at such a distance apart as topermit of the passage "of the front end of the blade between them andthe table'without effecting any vertical movement of the rollers orpins; but they will be raised, together with the pins, as the shouldersI) of the blade come in contact therewith. Adjacent to the holdingmechanism just described an opening is formed through the bed of thetable to permit of the sheet or lamina separated from the block to dropaway from the blade onto an endless apron 19, mounted on pulleys 20,arranged on opposite sides of the machine. One of these pulleys ispositively driven by a belt 21, which passes around a suitable pulley onthe knife-shaft 2. On this shaft is also mounted a pulley 22, aroundwhich is passed a belt 23, which serves to drive a brush 24, arranged onthe opening in the table and designed to detach any sheet of mica ordust which may adhere to the under side of the blade.

As it is desirable to prevent the movement of any portion of the blockof mica before at least the front end of the blade has passed entirelythrough the same and as it is also desirable to insure the movement of adetached sheet with the blade from under the block, grooves 25 areformed in the surface of the table to permit of the projection of thepins 13 below the surface of the block and for the reception ofprojecting lugs 26, formed on the under side of the blade. The sheets ofmica separated from the block and carried along with the blade by thelugs 26 are very thin and occasionally adhere so closely to the underside of the blade that the brush 24 will not dislodge them. In order toovercome such adherence and to insure the dislodgment of the sheets,springs 26 are attached to the under side of the blade in front of thelugs 26, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. The ends of the springs are madethin and lie in close contact with the under side of the blades, so asto pass freely over the separated sheets, but the middle portion isbowed, so as to force the sheets away from the blade. As it is desirablethat portions of the holding-pins 13 should always project a littlebelow the under surface of the block, grooves 28 are formed in the uppersurface of the blade 1, and the lifting-rollers are so adjusted on saidpins as to lift the pins only a suflicient height to permit of theirentrance into the grooves and not above the upper surface of the blade.

For many purposes the laminae separated should be as thin as possible,and as it is practically impossible to so form the bevel at the frontpoint of the knife as to effect the separation of a lamina as thin asdesired we effect initial separation of the block of mica into sheets atone edge of a block. While this separation can be effected in many ways,we prefer to do it by grinding the edge of the block and have found thatin such grinding operation the laminae are opened up and separated bythe grinding along their edges, and the material abraded from the edgesof the separated laminze is forced or wedged in between the same,thereby holding them in open position ready for the operation of thesplitting-knife. This method effects the subdivision of the block intothinner sheets than is possible by any of the methods now in use andholds the sheets separated at their edges for the entrance of the blade.After the edge of the block has been ground or the initial separationeffected the block is placed in the holding device with the opened edgetoward the knife, which is then rotated. The point enters betweenadjacent laminae, and the diverging edges thereof act as a wedge toseparate one lamina in all directions from the one next adjacent. Afterpassing through the block the point of the blade passes underneath therollers, and thereby lifts the holding-pins, so as to permit of thepassage of the knife under them and with it a separated sheet of mica,whose movement with the blade is insured by the projections on the underside of the latter.

\Ve claim herein as our invention 1. In a machine for separating thelaminae of mica, &c., the combination of a blade having a point andedges diverging from said point and operative to separate the lamime andmeans for holding the block to be separated in position for the entranceof the point of the blade between adjacent laminae, substantially as setforth.

2. In a machine for separating the lamime of mica, &c., the combinationof a revolving blade having an entering point and diverging operativeedges, and means for holding the blockto be separated in position forthe entrance of the point of the blade between adjacent laminae,substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine for separating the lamina: of mica, &c., the combinationof a movable blade having an entering point and diverging operativeedge, means for holding the block to be separated in position for theentrance of the point of the blade between adjacent laminae, and meansfor moving a separated lamina out of line with the block, substantiallyas set forth.

4. In a machine for separating the lamina) of mica, 850., thecombination of a bed or table, a blade having an entering point anddiverging operative edge movable over the surface of the bed or table,means for holding a block of mica on said table for the entrance of thepoint of the blade between adjacent laminze, and means for moving aseparated lamina from under the block, substantially as set forth.

5. In a machine for separating thelaminze of mica, &c., the combinationof a bed or table provided with an opening, a blade having an enteringpoint and diverging operative edge movable along the surface of thetable, means for holding a block of mica on said table for the entranceof the point of the blade between adjacent lamin;e,and means for movinga lamina when separated by the blade to such position that it will dropthrough the opening in the table, substantially as set forth.

6. In a machine for separating the laminae of mica, &c., the combinationof a bed or table, a yielding presser for holding a block of mica on thetable, fingers for preventing the movement of the block along the table,and a blade movable along the surface of the bed or table, substantiallyas set forth.

7. In a machine for separating the laminie' of mica, &c., thecombination of a bed or table, means for yieldingly holding a block ofmica on the table,- a blade movable along the surface of the table, andfingers vertically movable by the blade for preventing the movement ofthe block along the table, substantially as set forth.

8. In a machine for separating the laminae of mica, &c.,'the combinationof a movable blade provided on one side with grooves,-

means for holding a block of mica With its laminae parallel With theplane of movement of the blade and fingers for preventing the movementof the block With the blade, the ends of the fingers projecting into thegrooves in the blade, substantially as set forth.

9. In a machine for separating the laminze of mica, &c., the combinationof a blade, means for holding a block of mica With its laminae parallelwith the sides of the blade, and means for forcing a separated laminaaway from the blade, substantially as set forth.

10. In a machine for separating the laminae of mica, &c., thecombination of a movable blade, means for holding a block of mica withits laminae parallel with the plane of movement of the blade, means forcausinga separated lamina to move With the blade and springs for forcingsuch lamina away from the blade, substantially as set forth.

RICHARD W. HEARD. RICHARD A. L. SNYDER.

Witnesses:

DARWIN S. WOLCOTT, M. S. MURPHY.

